Biplane bus crashes in Ottawa Station, kill 3 and injury 25

OTTAWA – In the afternoon, a commuter shuttled into Canada's capital when a double-decker city bus was impaled in a passenger home and three people died and 25 were injured.

Jim Watson, mayor of Ottawa, said one victim was standing on the platform at the time of the collision and the other two were in the bus.

"Our hearts and condolences to all injured," Mr. Watson said in a message conference. "Our focus must now be on providing concern and sympathy to those affected."

Of the injured, 14 were hospitalized in critical condition.

It was the second fatal accident with a double-decker bus the city in less than six years.

The bus operated by the city transit system, OC Transpo, was driving on an underground road reserved for buses when it lost control when it entered a station west of the city center at about 3 o'clock: 50 clock, said Chief Charles Bordeleau of the Ottawa police.

Then he boarded a passenger platform and crashed into a shelter. Steel and glass from the overhang of the shelter tore off the front of the bus and severed much of the upper deck.

Chief Bordeleau said most of the injured were in this part of the bus and several people on the platform also had to be treated.

Why the bus lost control was not clear. It was a bitterly cold afternoon: officials had given a warning of frostbite, and black ice had formed on various roads throughout the city.

"There is no question that the weather adds to the complexity of the scene," said Chief Bordeleau, although he declined to answer questions about the possible causes or condition of the transit road service.

He said, "Something caused the bus driver to be arrested," but refused any details. She was interviewed on Friday evening.

The bus, whose route was to take him from the city center to the suburbs, was not supposed to stop at the station where the collision took place and just wanted to pass it.

Doug Ford, Prime Minister of Ontario, wrote on Twitter that he was "devastated when he heard of those who lost their lives and were injured as a result of the terrible bus collision".

In 2013, another OC Transpo double-decker bus collided with an intercity passenger train leaving six dead and 35 injured behind.

A federal investigation revealed that the driver might be distracted by a video screen that allowed him to monitor the passengers upstairs on the bus. It also called for the addition of bumpers to buses manufactured in the UK.

John Manconi, OC Transpo's general manager, said that busses built since that report included bumpers, but he knew if the bus collision on Friday was among them.